Feature: Opportunity to Flourish in Academics and Research

This article was originally featured on the University of Minnesota's Political Science website on August 20, 2025.

Political science undergraduate Kat Jensen has always been interested in politics. However, it wasn't until a peer mentor from the First Year Leadership Institution introduced them to political science that she considered studying it. After realizing the degree's versatility and finding interest in the classes, she decided to double-major in political science and psychology. Upon learning of the political psychology focus area in political science, they explored the fields and discovered that our Center for the Study of Political Psychology (CSPP) is one of the largest in the country. She learned about attitudes toward democratic backsliding and status threat from Professor Howard Lavine. With the relevance of democratic backsliding globally, Kat realized they wanted to research it.

Summer Research

This summer, Kat was part of the TRIO McNair Scholar program, a 10-week research program that pairs students with a faculty member with matching research interests. With Professor Lavine as her mentor, Kat researched attitudes toward democratic backsliding, grouped into five categories: illiberalism/rules of the game, partisan violence, partisan spite, authoritarianism, and conspiracy thinking. 

Their research included all demographics, with particular focus on young men without a college education, as early analyses and some literature connect the manosphere and young men with anti-democratic beliefs. Additionally, they focused on the effects of age, gender, educational attainment, and race, as well as interactions of these variables, on attitudes toward democratic backsliding. 

To conduct the research, Kat used three studies: one conducted by YouGov in 2022, one by CSPP in 2023, and another by CSPP in 2025. The first two studies were three-wave panels, while the third was cross-sectional. Professor Lavine and Kat conducted a multivariate analysis using ordinary least squares regression, starting with an omnibus analysis, then created subsets for gender, education, and race.

Preliminary results indicate age as the only demographic variable with a systemically significant effect on attitudes toward democratic backsliding. For almost all variables measuring attitudes, younger people were more likely to support democratic backsliding than older people, with the exceptions of Paranoid Social Cognition being more supported by older people and COVID Conspiracy Thinking having no significant effects. Gender, educational attainment, and race had mixed effects across the dependent variables measuring attitudes, and no interactions have been significant so far.

For Kat, it's been great having Professor Lavine as a mentor. "He's good at explaining concepts and has given helpful advice on navigating graduate school and a career in political science," she says. "It's fantastic being mentored by someone so well-connected in the field because he's willing to connect me with folks that can help me and share research interests."

Crucial Opportunities

As a proud President's Emerging Scholar (PES) and honors student, Kat understands the importance of programs like PES and McNair for scholars from historically underserved backgrounds. "I'm a first-generation college student from a low-income background," the reflect, "and being a part of McNair meant I got to connect with other scholars in all kinds of disciplines who share that background and some of the challenges that come with it. The community building and networking opportunities afforded to me by McNair are priceless."

Additionally, McNair is unique as it's also a graduate school preparation program. The staff help scholars navigate a range of things related to graduate school, from building a strong application to learning how to network with faculty from programs they are interested in. McNair scholars also have multiple opportunities to present their research at the end of the program, including a conference at the University of California, Los Angeles.

"TRIO programs are crucial for building the next generation of scholars," says Kat. They provide access to education that folks who are systematically kept out of higher education need for their futures and offer an opportunity for folks to do the incredible work they are capable of. "I'm incredibly grateful to be supported by these programs that have allowed me to flourish in my academics and career goals."

Kat's future goals include obtaining a PhD in political science and a career in academia or research. They are also considering a joint Master of Public Policy and Juris Doctor further down the line. "I'm passionate about educating people on politics and would love the opportunity to expand access to higher education [for] other folks like myself," she reflects.

McNair gave Kat research experience, knowledge on higher education & graduate school, and a connection to McNair alumni. She learned that she has the ability to pursue the career they want and that research & faculty aren't as scary as they seem.